Methodology and results
Native plant heritage exhibition
Partner 5 – the Botanical Garden of Sóller (JBS) in Majorca - the group in charge of this stage, at the end of March, 2007, organized a seminar on the importance of rockery in botanical gardens. Rockeries, in fact, among the various forms of garden representations, are sites that are suitable for the cultivation of rocky and saxicolous endemic species that are abundantly found in the Mediterranean. At the same time, the creation of a botanical garden network is a useful action for spreading awareness of these species and public awareness regarding their conservation and protection. The seminar, which took place at the JBS facilities, was divided into a theoretical part and a practical part, and during the seminar geological and climatic aspects of the Mediterranean Basin were addressed, along with analysis of the relevant threats on species, and outlined techniques to be used for the design and creation of rockeries, with assessment of the work techniques in the field and specifications regarding reproduction, implantation and species maintenance (irrigation, pruning, composting, etc.).
The work method was based on three fundamental points: observation of the species in its natural environment, imitation of the aforesaid through the creation of a micro-habitat, and lastly, garden architecture.
The following groups participated in the seminar: IJBB-Barcelona, DGMN-Murcia, DBUC-Catania, CCB-Cagliari, MAICh-Crete, and invited guests were the Jardí Botànic de Mar i Murtra de Blanes, a landscape architect from Valencia and a forestry engineer from Palma.
During the final project meeting, held in Athens in April, 2008, each partner presented the work they carried out during each stage.
The partners from Murcia, Cagliari and Sóller fully reached their goals, carrying out all the programmed works. The Barcelona partner fulfilled the project and identified the species to be introduced, but was unable to create the rockery due to lack of funding. The partners from Catania, Crete, and Malta started the works, which will be completed in 2008.
All of the planned and fixed goals were reached; all the partners that participated in the seminar put the techniques they studied to use perfectly, obtaining excellent results for the conservation, exhibition, and improvement of the species chosen.